


A Commentary on the Misinterpretation of “Notes on Racial Phylogeny”

by jottingprosaist (jane_potter)



Category: Elder Scrolls, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: A real response to real (mis)takes on fictional research on fictional races, Gen, Racial Phylogeny, apocrypha, fake lorebook
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-19
Updated: 2020-09-19
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:41:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26538274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jane_potter/pseuds/jottingprosaist
Summary: Over a long and storied career, a master of Restoration will meet many myths, misconceptions, and outright lies about health, illness, and the nature of one’s body. The less we say about counterfeit contraceptives and venereal curatives, the better. Yet I take particular umbrage with the persistent misunderstanding of race— specifically, racial phylogeny.The Imperial University’s "Notes on Racial Phylogeny" is now in its seventh edition, and has enormous circulation among academics and laypeople. There may be no more widely read and widely misunderstood book in the medical tradition.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 39





	A Commentary on the Misinterpretation of “Notes on Racial Phylogeny”

_Radia Uta-Reen Serius, Master Healer of the Temple of the Divines, Solitude_

* * *

Over a long and storied career, a master of Restoration will meet many myths, misconceptions, and outright lies about health, illness, and the nature of one’s body. The less we say about counterfeit contraceptives and venereal curatives, the better. Yet I take particular umbrage with the persistent misunderstanding of race— specifically, racial phylogeny.

The Imperial University’s _Notes on Racial Phylogeny_ is now in its seventh edition, and is widely circulated among academics and laypeople. There may be no more widely read and widely misunderstood book in the medical tradition.

Upon my recent arrival in Solitude from Wayrest, I made conversation with the Imperial census agent processing my arrival. As he stamped my papers, he grumbled about the last family to go through: a Breton and a Redguard, he said, accompanied by three children. They refused to list their children as anything but mixed: Breton _and_ Redguard, they insisted, despite the census agent’s demand that they check only one box on the forms. In the end, after much argument and the threat of imprisonment for falsifying Imperial records, the parents resentfully claimed their children as Bretons since the family lived in High Rock.

Given that the census agent still held my passport, I murmured sympathetically that I did not blame him for the delay. “It’s frustrating how impossible some people are,” he snapped. “You’re either one or the other!”

And yet— this is simply incorrect. Many ideas about racial phylogeny are.

  1. Children inherit the race of their mother



While studying at the Arcane University in my youth, one of my classmates was an Altmer whose family line was of some significance, as he often declaimed. He was not shy, either, about expressing his opinion on the bloodlines and kinships of others. He took particular exception to an Altmer woman who owned a well-known pastry shop near the University, and who had recently borne a daughter. When I at last questioned his vitriol about this woman’s apparently slatternly nature, he explained that she had muddied Altmer bloodlines by bearing the child of a Cyrod man. Surprised and offended, I demanded why he didn’t express similar opinions about his own cousin, a young Altmer man of good breeding who (as we had heard from letters on which he gossiped) had recently impregnated a Bosmer lover in Valenwood.

It wasn’t the same situation, my classmate explained. His cousin’s dalliance had been inappropriate but also commendable, in a way; the lover was pregnant with a Bosmer child somewhat improved by Altmer heritage, and that could only be a boon to her people. Meanwhile the Altmer shopkeep had borne an Altmer daughter with human blood that only degraded the line. In his mind, neither of these children were mixed-race: they were simply what their mothers were, with better or worse influence. When I dogged this line of logic to its source, he cited _Notes on Racial Phylogeny_.

I set aside the question of “improvement” or “degradation” of bloodlines. The fact is that my classmate’s belief— a very common one— is absolutely not supported by the text that he claimed as a reference. The oft-misquoted line from _Racial Phylogeny_ is thus: “ **Generally** the offspring bear the **racial traits** of the mother, though **some traces of the father's race may also be present**.”

The text describes only a general pattern in the physiological traits and appearance of mixed-race offspring, and it leaves plenty of room for variation in that pattern. It makes no claim that “race” as a whole is passed directly from mother to child. It also does not state, as some may relatedly misinterpret, that in some cases “race” as a whole is inherited from the father instead.

Again: It says that the _physiological traits_ of the offspring are _generally_ similar to those of the mother, with variation. It says nothing of the "race" of the offspring.

Exactly as a child of two Altmer may inherit more of the appearance of their mother than their father (or more of their father— or a mix of both— or the features of a distant grandsire), the physical inheritance of an Altmer-Cyrod child will be predictable but subject to variation. How we as a society choose to categorize the child— as Altmer, Cyrod, or otherwise— is a separate matter.

  1. Race is a concrete and unchanging category



While working as a journeyman healer, I attended the birth of an infant to a Nord father and a Bosmer mother. Both were baffled and distraught that their newborn daughter, while healthy and perfect in every way, did not greatly resemble her mother. She had the skin and hair colour of her Nord father, as well as a nose so prominent that its origin was unmistakable even in infancy. They could not suspect that the infant belonged to someone other than her mother, as both had been present for the delivery. Indeed, when a relative wondered aloud about the possibility of this baby having been switched with another, the stressed mother snapped, “I pushed her out of my own body and then put her on my tit, I think I’d have noticed someone playing a damn shell game.” At the same time, the child did have her mother’s pointed ears; a little later the child opened her eyes and revealed unmistakably Bosmer eyes with golden irises and black sclera.

But she was _supposed_ to have been the image of her mother. How could this be? Was something wrong? What _was_ their child? Both having an oversimplified notion of race borne from broad misquotation of _Racial Phylogeny_ — and perhaps an attachment to certain notions of race that they had not heretofore confronted— they struggled to process that they had created a child who was visibly not like either of them.

Eventually I was able to convince them of the simple answer: this was _their_ child. Again, exactly as _Racial Phylogeny_ explains, “Generally the offspring bear the racial traits of the mother, though some traces of the father's race may also be present.” Physiological inheritance is not cut and dry; it will vary, to a greater or lesser extent that we cannot determine. Their daughter’s appearance was not an impossibility or even a singularity, merely a unique variation.

But if the physiology of an individual can vary so greatly, how do we categorize them? What is the race of a child with the ears and eyes of a Bosmer and the coloration of a Nord? Will our opinion change if we discover she has inherited her father’s magical resistance to cold? Her mother’s resistance to diseases and poisons? Both? Will it change if she herself tells us that she is a Nord or a Bosmer? Or both? Neither?

 _Racial Phylogeny_ has no opinion on the matter. This text, while concerned with the descent and classification of various “races,” does not actually assert that “race” is a concrete or unchanging category. In fact, quite the opposite. The majority of the time that the word “race” is used, it appears in quotations to highlight its disputed or unreliable nature. The text refers to “all ‘races’ of elves and humans  ” and “cases of intercourse between these ‘races’ [e.g. Orcs, goblins, trolls].” It directly says that “race” is an “ **imprecise** but useful term.” When _Racial Phylogeny_ is at its core so concerned with the connection between various groups of people— the descent, change, and ongoing interrelation— how can the fluid nature of “race” not be apparent?

We need look no farther than the existence of the Breton people to understand this. Bretons are the descendants of Nedic and Aldmeri ancestors. The earliest individuals were likely seen simply as mixed race, or, impolitely, “halfbreeds”: the name “Breton” is derived from “beratu,” the Ehlnofex term for “half,” and a few references to “Manmer” exist in older texts, outdated even by the Third Era. Yet today Bretons are their own “race,” as distinct and concrete as a “race” can be. A Breton is not a halfbreed, a manmer; he is a Breton. (Unless someone chooses to dig up truly ancient history as an insult.) The only differences between this established “race” of people and an incomprehensibly unique Nord-Bosmer child is a high population and a great stretch of time in which society can change its opinion.

If mixed racial heritage is so ordinary, why might we see so few people claiming or displaying it? _Racial Phylogeny_ gives one possible explanation: the complication of claiming parentage of the “wrong” race. Showing signs of the time in which it was written, the text asserts, “Surely any **normal** Bosmer or Breton impregnated by an Orc would **keep that shame to herself** , and there's no reason to suppose that an Orc maiden impregnated by a human would not be likewise **ostracized by her society**.” Even in today’s society there are many situations in which it could be difficult or even perilous to claim certain parentage. Safer by far to say that one’s coloration or facial features are mere quirks of chance. And individuals with the rigid attitude of our Imperial census agent likewise do not make it easy to claim two ancestries, two natures. Or, more complex yet, an ancestry and nature that defies categorization.

  1. Certain races are demonstrably unable to interbreed



During my time in the Imperial City, I was told a story that demonstrates the danger that a misunderstanding of _Racial Phylogeny_ can pose. From the story that was related to me and the court records that I pursued to confirm it, the situation was thus: forty-six years prior, a Nibenese man named Erio Balba fell in love with an Orsimer woman named Grashua gra-Dush. Erio’s family disapproved so strongly that he ceased all contact with them. The pair did not legally marry, reportedly due to strong dissuasion by the Temple of Mara (which the current head priestess found shocking and denied— but this was decades before her time). Erio and Grashua had a son, Narus, and lived together happily until Erio’s early death twenty-one years later.

In the course of necessary legal procedures after Erio’s death, Narus stood to inherit his father’s properties and money; however, Erio’s estranged family suddenly attempted to block the inheritance. Their assertion in court was that Narus was not Erio’s true son but a bastard or impersonator with whom Grashua, still unwed, was attempting to unlawfully seize Erio’s assets. Their “proof” was the common knowledge that Orsimer and men are incapable of reproducing, and the fact that Narus much resembled his mother in physiology. Despite Narus and Grashua’s arguments, the judge Flautus Ulpio also “knew” that Orsimer and men could not reproduce. He cited (but did not quote) _Notes on Racial Phylogeny_ in his decision. Narus and Grashua were denied all rights to Erio’s property and money, which went to the family Erio had repudiated decades ago. As both Grashua and Narus are now dead (also far too early), I give their names so that the facts of this legal travesty may be confirmed by all.

In all my life I will never understand how _Racial Phylogeny_ can be so mis-read on this point. Over and over, the text admits its uncertainty about possible interracial couplings. On the matter of Orsimer and men it says, “The reproductive biology of Orcs is at present **not well understood** ,” that “there have been no **documented** cases of pregnancy,” and that consequently “interfertility of these creatures and the civilized hominids **has yet to be empirically established or refuted**.” The text’s bias reveals exactly why such research was difficult, and why any happy couples, expectant mothers, or mixed-race children might not wish to reveal partial Orsimer heritage to the Council of Healers or anyone else.

In other cases _Racial Phylogeny_ is equally equivocal. I cannot summarize its position any more succinctly than to quote: “It is **less clear** whether the Argonians and Khajiit are interfertile with both humans and elves. Though **there have been many reports throughout the Eras of children from these unions** , as well as stories of unions with daedra, there have been **no well documented offspring**.” Even while acknowledging numerous reports of interrelation, academics must reserve judgement until they have hard evidence. The highly differentiated physiology of Khajiit and Argonians is explored as a possible point of evidence towards incompatibility but is by no means a conclusion.

The matter is the same in regards to virtually every other known sentient “race,” including “goblins, trolls, harpies, dreugh, Tsaesci, Imga, various daedra and many others”: “there have been no **documented** cases of pregnancy.”

Only in one case does _Racial Phylogeny_ make a definitive statement about the possibility of interracial reproduction, and it is in the affirmative: due to the hermaphroditic nature of the Sload, “It can be safely assumed that they are not interfertile with men or mer.”

Consider, now: How many times in the last decades have legal decisions been made on the basis of such misunderstood text? How many people exist whose mixed heritage could categorically disprove these misunderstandings, except that society and its institutions are not ready to accept them?

  1. “Race” is a key determinant of other factors



I now permit myself a slight discursion from dissecting the text of _Racial Phylogeny_ to explain why it is so important we have a proper understanding of what “race” is— and is not.

We have already seen how misunderstanding “race” can result in prejudice, social conflict, and miscarriages of justice. There are still other ways that it can lead us astray.

Recently I was in discussion with colleagues at Solitude’s Temple of the Divines about the varying religious beliefs of people across Skyrim, particularly in regards to the influence and intermingling of multiple cultures. A colleague confidently explained, “Mixed race children take on the race of their mother, and would thus go to the afterlife of their mother’s people.” This was apparently derived from the eternal misunderstanding of _Racial Phylogeny_.

 _Racial Phylogeny_ makes no statements about the theological implications of mixed-race children. Cultural and religious practices, including those that will influence the fate of a soul after death, are not transmitted by blood. The daughter of an Altmer and a Breton, raised only by her Altmer father, would learn only the customs he wished to pass on. The son of Dunmer raised by Argonians in Argonia would inherit an Argonian way of life regardless of the beliefs of his birth parents. The child of a Nord and a Redguard might grow up with a unique blend of beliefs based on the syncretized cultures of both parents. A pure-blood Khajiit from a family that had lived in Hammerfell for five generations might have more of a connection to Hammerfell than the lands and customs of their great-great-great-grandparents. It is impossible for us to draw conclusions about an individual’s religion (or culture, or politics) based solely on their apparent “race.”

Once more, when erroneous thinking influences legal systems, it can cause great harm. During my time at the Temple of Kynareth in Whiterun, I heard a particularly egregious case of injustice and sacrilege on the basis of “race.” The complainant was the son of a Dunmer father, both formerly of Darkwater Crossing. As a result of the current political conflict, his father was killed (the son would give no further details). The Imperial forces responsible for disposal of the bodies then summarily sent the deceased Dunmer’s remains across the eastern border to Morrowind. There— as the distraught son discovered when news of the death reached him and he was forced to frantically pursue his late father’s remains across borders— the body was cremated and the ashes interred in a communal pauper’s ashpit at the Temple of the Reclamations in Kogotel. The remains were now inextricable from their resting place with the poorest and least loved of Dunmer, a place of dishonor so low that even the New Temple could not fully do them honor, only forestall spiritual unrest. Worse yet, the funerary rites performed by the New Temple were entirely improper for the deceased: he had been a lifelong follower of the Eight Divines, and should have been buried beneath the protection of the Three Consecrations of Arkay.

By using race as a basis to make such incredible assumptions about this mer’s birthplace, home, and religion, Imperial bureaucracy condemned his body to improper burial, his soul to an uncertain afterlife, and his family to loss upon loss. If the mer was executed, he might have been asked about his wishes beforehand, as even criminals have a right to proper funerary rites; if he was caught blamelessly in an armed conflict, answers to his identity might have been sought in the local area. Both are more logical solutions. Instead, they shipped a mer’s body entirely out of the country because they thought it should go “where Dunmer are from.” This cannot be the first or only time it has happened.

  1. Conclusion



When myths about _Notes on Racial Phylogeny_ and its conclusions are so easy to disprove with a careful reading of the actual text, why then do they persist? Are we fools? Are we willfully ignorant, or constantly careless in our scholarship? Do we all have an axe to grind that requires us to use misrepresentations of “race” as a tool?

Far from it. We simply trust that others are telling us the truth when they pass on “common knowledge.”

I understand: Race makes people easy to categorize. It allows us to draw quick assumptions about their origins, their cultures, their beliefs. Yet these assumptions are too often oversimplified, too often _wrong_. And even for simplicity’s sake, why should we wish to follow the path of fools and bigots who paint every Altmer, every Dunmer, every Khajiit— every member not of their own beloved people— with the same sloppy brush?

In some instances, as _Racial Phylogeny_ admits, “race” is an “imprecise but useful term.” We may need to speak in generalities and draw broad conclusions. We may, as in the case of our Imperial census agent, feel the need to classify people within a rigid system of data that allows no flexibility or overlap. But let us not overuse or overestimate this tricky idea of “race.” And for the Divines’ sake, let us stop misquoting _Racial Phylogeny_.


End file.
